Behind the Books: a story review

1.

Behind the Books:
a story review
Greetings & Introduction
About the author
About the story
Sample exercises
Questions to discuss
Feedback; Q&A

2.

ROALD DAHL
1. Dahl wrote many of his stories in a little shed at the
bottom of his garden
2. He was a fighter pilot in World War II
3. Dahl wrote for around 4 hours every single day
4. When Roald Dahl died in 1990, he was buried with
some of his favourite things
5. Dahl was a spy during World War II
6. Dahl invented over 250 new words
7. Many of Dahl’s characters were based on people he’d
met in real life
8. Dahl was born in Wales, but his parents were
Norwegian

3.

ROALD DAHL

4.

Roald Dahl, quotes:
A little magic can take
you a long way…
“A person who has good
thoughts cannot ever be
ugly. You can have a
wonky nose and a
crooked mouth and a
double chin and stickout teeth, but if you have
good thoughts they will
shine out of your face
like sunbeams and you
will always look lovely.”

5.

About the Story
"Lamb to the Slaughter" (1953) is a short story by Roald Dahl. It was
initially rejected, along with four other stories, by The New Yorker, but
was published in Harper's Magazine in September 1953.
It was adapted for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that starred
Barbara Bel Geddes & Harold J. Stone.
The narrative element of the housewife killing her husband and letting
the policemen partake in eating the evidence was used by Pedro
Almodóvar in his 1984 movie What Have I Done to Deserve This?,
with a leg of mutton.
"Lamb to the Slaughter" demonstrates Dahl's fascination with horror
(with elements of black comedy), which is seen in both his adult fiction
and his stories for children.
The story supposedly was suggested to Dahl by his friend Ian Fleming:
"Why don't you have someone murder their husband with a frozen leg
of mutton which she then serves to the detectives who come to
investigate the murder?"

6.

https://www.classicshort
s.com/stories/lamb.html

7.

Behind the Books:
Types of Exercises
TYPE I: Linguistic tasks, e.g.: find the
equivalent/ synonym, guess the meaning,
world riddle/ puzzle, etc
TYPE II: Creative tasks, e.g.: compare,
find the allusions, comment on the title,
create an alternative ending, etc.

8.

Behind the Books:
Interesting words (1)
brightly lit up; burning
Alight
Only; nothing more; used to emphasize
Merely
that you mean exactly what you say
Placid
calm and peaceful
Same + without noise, violence, worry
Tranquil
almost
transparent,
allowing
some
light
Translucen
through it
t
to get great pleasure from smth
Luxuriate
Swirls
to move quickly with a twisting, circular
movement
very confused and unable to think clearly

9.

Behind the Books:
Interesting words (2)
Fuss
Swaying
Congealed
Spanner
Giggle
Footle
Consoling
a show of anger, worry/ excitement that
is unnecessary/ greater than it deserves
to move slowly from side to side
changed from a liquid or soft state to a
thick or solid state
a metal tool with a shaped end, used to
turn nuts and bolts
to laugh repeatedly in a quiet but
uncontrolled way, often at smth silly
Nonsense, absurdity
Making or intended to make someone
feel better when they are sad or
disappointed

10.

Checklist for short stories
review & analysis!
https://check-list.behindbooks.com/first

11.

Behind the Books:
Questions for discussion/ PLOT
1) Would the police ever find Mary guilty? Does
she deserve a punishment?
2) What was the alibi of Mary Maloney?
3) Why did she want the policemen to eat the
lamb? What was her plan?
4) What was Mary’s emotional state after the
crime?
5) Is Mary different at the beginning and end of
the story? Explain your viewpoint.
6) Was it important that Patrick was a
policemen? Did it help Mary in any way?

12.

Behind the Books:
Questions for discussion/ GENERAL
1) Why was this story rejected by the New
Yorker several times?
2) What is the climax of "Lamb to the
Slaughter"? What happens and why?
3) Is "Lamb to Slaughter" an example of noir
mystery? Explain.
4) What's the symbol hidden in the title?
5) What ironic things have you noticed?

13.

Best roast leg of lamb
With proper homemade mint sauce
“A classic Sunday lunch, with no fuss and masses
of flavour – perfect for Easter. ”
Ingredients
•2 kg leg of lamb or hogget
•1 bulb of garlic
•½ a bunch of fresh
rosemary
•1.5 kg potatoes
•1 lemon
•olive oil
•MINT SAUCE
•1 bunch of fresh mint
•1 teaspoon sugar
•3 tablespoons wine vinegar

14.

METHOD
1.Remove the lamb from the fridge 1 hour before you want to cook it, to let it come up to room
temperature.
2.Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºC/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on
the bottom.
3.Break the garlic bulb up into cloves, then peel 3, leaving the rest whole. Pick and roughly
chop half the rosemary leaves. Peel and halve the potatoes.
4.Crush the peeled garlic into a bowl, add the chopped rosemary, finely grate in the
lemon zest and drizzle in a good lug of oil, then mix together.
5.Season the lamb with sea salt and black pepper, then drizzle with the marinade and rub all
over the meat. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray.
6.Parboil the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water for 10 mins, then drain and allow
to steam dry. Gently toss the potatoes in the colander to scuff up the edges, then tip
back into the pan.
7.Add the remaining rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves to the potatoes, season with
salt and pepper, then drizzle over a good lug of oil. Tip the potatoes into the hot tray and
place back under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices.
8.Cook the lamb for 1 hour 15 mins if you want it pink, or 1 hour 30 minutes if you like it
more well done.
9.Meanwhile, make the mint sauce. Pick and finely chop the mint leaves, then place in a
small bowl. Mix in the sugar, a good pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon of hot water and the vinegar.
10.When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and leave to rest for
15 mins or so. Carve and serve with the roast potatoes, mint sauce and some seasonal

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Behind the Books
We’d like to hear your feedback & suggestions
on the following questions:
1) Contents: are any changes required?
2) Quality of the tasks: types of tasks,
quantity, format, etc
3) Is this type of work helpful?
4) Shall we try online reading? (test
format)
5) Closed group + chat (test format)

18.

Behind the Books

19.

Behind the Books:
CONTACTS: VK, FB + Telegram
(?)
+7 910 452 5953 (Vera)
+7 966 1239970 (Chris)